The Cleveland Cavaliers connected on a season-high 24 three-pointers in their win over the Charlotte Hornets.
It’s going to take multiple solid wins to get the Cleveland Cavaliers back on track after dropping three straight games to inferior opponents.
There’s still a long way to go for the Wine and Gold to re-establish themselves as a true threat come the playoffs, but they did show flashes of the old Cavs team in their 139-132 victory over the Charlotte Hornets on Monday evening.
The biggest takeaway from this victory was just how well the Cavaliers shot the ball. As a team, they connected on 55 percent (48-for-87) of their shots from the floor and 54 percent (24-for-44) from their shots behind the arc.
Cleveland’s 24 three-pointers set a season-high for the group, and are also the fifth most three made in a game in franchise history. The most a Cavs team has connected on in a game is 26, which a similar iteration of this team accomplished back in February against the Dallas Mavericks.
This efficient shooting is what made the Cavaliers so good a year ago, and it’s nice to see the game plan start to reemerge.
Dec 22, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell (45) dribbles beside Charlotte Hornets guard Tre Mann (23) in the first quarter at Rocket Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn ImagesThe ironic part of this stat is that, even though Sam Merrill made his return from a hand injury on Monday, and the Cavaliers have been the worst three-point shooting team in his absence, the guard didn’t connect on a single shot from behind the arc.
After the game, all Kenny Atkinson had to say about this reality was that it was “weird.”
Merrill’s presence on the floor does create more gravity and attention in his direction, but his not making a three does show that the Cavaliers are capable of being a solid long-range shooting team without Merrill on the floor.
Shooting aside, though, the offense started with ball movement. Cleveland collected 36 assists as a team, 10 of which came from Darius Garland.
The Cavaliers play their best basketball when they're firing the ball around the court, looking for the open man. That’s what they accomplished on Monday, and hopefully it’s something that can continue and carry over against the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday.